


Love Will Come To You

by TMar



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: F/M, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 03:01:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17051807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TMar/pseuds/TMar
Summary: Kira realized Odo loves her. You know what comes next.





	Love Will Come To You

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in July 1995 when the show was still on, and before these characters became a couple in the show.
> 
> After writing it I was perusing another Trek fiction archive and came across a Kira/Odo story that is almost identical to this one. Let me state that the two stories came about independently.
> 
> The song lyrics are from "Love will come to you" by Emily Saliers.

LOVE WILL COME TO YOU

_Guess I wasn't the best one to ask_  
_Me, myself, with my face pressed up against love's glass_  
_To see the shiny toy I've been hoping for_  
_The one I never can afford..._

Major Kira Nerys lay silently looking up at the ceiling,  
wondering what had just happened. It was difficult to grasp, and  
even more difficult to put into words. It was... something...  
that no one except her and one other would ever be able to  
understand.

She felt movement next to her, and had to restrain herself  
from looking over to the person beside her. She knew she had  
fallen asleep and woken; she didn't know if he slept, or was  
capable of sleeping in the form he had now assumed. Probably not.  
So why was he still here, then? Out of some sort of misguided  
idea that this was what humanoids did after making love? To watch  
her sleep? To contemplate? She didn't know, and she was afraid  
that if she turned, looked at him and asked, he would tell her  
quite bluntly, and ruin the magic. So she said nothing. Better  
just to lie here and wait for something to happen. Something  
like...

"Sisko to Major Kira."

That wasn't it.

Kira sat up irritably, groping for her comm badge. "Kira  
here."

"Major, would you care to explain why you're ten minutes late  
for your shift?"

"What?!" she almost yelled, jumping right up. "What time is  
it?"

"Did you oversleep, Major?" Sisko's voice now sounded just a  
little amused. 

"Um... yeah, I think so. Maybe. I... I must have lost track  
of time. I'll be right up, Sir."

"I'd appreciate it." There was a pause, and then Kira heard the  
comm panel beep. "Sisko to Odo."

Kira knew that when she turned around, he would be there. And  
he was. Not looking away from her, he answered the hail. "Odo here."

"We need those security reports on the latest Dominion activity,  
Constable."

"I'll get them to you immediately. Odo out." The channel  
closed and Sisko's equalising presence went away. Kira knew now  
was the time. She turned and looked at Odo, smiling faintly.  
"So," she shrugged.

"So," he echoed.

"Odo, say something."

"I'm sorry that I made you lose track of time," he said.

"Not that! Say something... anything... about the past few  
hours!" The way she said it made it sound like an order.

"What is there to say, Major." Major again. She wished he  
wouldn't call her that, but it was something she couldn't get him  
to stop. He continued, "You obviously feel as if you've made a  
mistake. That's all right. We can forget this ever happened."

"But I don't want to forget, I..." Her shift. "Damn." Kira  
turned slightly and put one hand on his shoulder. "I'm late  
already. Odo, I don't want to forget, I just want to..." How  
could she put this, in a way that wouldn't hurt him? "I just want  
to understand, and explain how I feel. About everything."

He nodded, and Kira went to the door. "I'll see you later?"  
Another nod. She left.

***

Sisko had just repeated a second order to his first officer.  
"Major!"

"I'm... sorry, Captain. I'm a little distracted today."

"Not a little distracted, Major, a lot. Step into my office  
please."

When they were seated, Sisko got right to the point. "Is there  
something bothering you?"

At first Nerys wanted to protest. She wanted to jump up and  
yell, "No, I'm fine!" But she knew that the urge to do that meant  
there *was* something wrong. Or... not wrong, exactly. Just...  
"Yes, I have something on my mind. I'm sorry I'm letting it  
affect my work."

"Then I think you need some time, Major. Take this shift and  
the next off."

"Thank you." But she didn't move, and Sisko took this to mean  
she had more to say.

"Something else, Major?"

"Captain... have you ever been confused about something?"

"Like what?"

"Like... your feelings for someone?"

"Not usually. When I met Jennifer I knew immediately that she  
would become my wife. There were some others, though..."

Kira interrupted. "How do you know when something is right or  
not?"

"I go by instinct." He paused. "Why are you asking me this?  
Why not Dax, or Doctor Bashir?"

Kira shook her head. "Dax always knows the correct thing. And yet,  
often what she says and what she does are two different things.  
But you, Captain, always do the same in word and deed." She  
didn't add, 'And you're the Emissary.'

Sisko caught the unspoken words anyway. "Major, I might be the  
Emissary, but I'm no oracle. You have to work this out for  
yourself."

Kira stood up. "I know." She knew Sisko was right, but she also knew  
this was right. Perhaps she just needed reassurance... Perhaps she'd  
just needed to talk to someone, even if she didn't say exactly what was  
going on. She went towards the door.

"I hope it works out for you and the Constable."

She stopped short. "What?!"

"Come now, Major. We're not blind you know. Something has been  
going on for a long time now. Hasn't it?"

"I guess so," she agreed.

***

It had begun so innocently, the day before. They'd been having  
problems with the turbolifts again, and she and Odo had gotten  
stuck in one while O'Brien was trying to get the power restored.  
Odo had told her some - not all - of the story about the time he  
had been in a similar situation with Lwaxana Troi. "I suppose  
it's fair to say that she had... designs on me," he had said in  
a dry tone.

"So?" Kira had prodded.

"So, nothing. Mrs. Troi turned out to be an interesting  
person. We had a fascinating talk."

"After you contemplated electrocuting yourself to get away  
from her? Come on, Odo!"

"At the time, I hadn't considered that a humanoid could think  
of me... like that. And I certainly couldn't bring myself to  
think of Mrs. Troi like that."

There was something in his tone... "You said, 'At the time...'  
Have you changed your mind since?"

"Not about Mrs Troi," Odo said vaguely.

"Then who?" Kira brightened. Odo and a girl? Surely not! But  
then, he hadn't denied it...

"No one," he said, looking away.

Kira immediately knew he was lying. Not only that, but the  
look in his eyes when he'd said it... Kira's heart dropped into  
her boots. No, no, no! It couldn't be! At the same time, she knew  
it was. He loved her, and always had. A lot of things suddenly  
clicked into place for Kira Nerys, and she felt her cheeks flush,  
hoping the bottom of the lift would disappear and allow her a  
speedy exit. 

That didn't happen, but just then, "O'Brien to Kira and Odo. I think I've got it."

"We... all right, Chief." She paused. "Ops." The turbolift began moving. 

Odo tapped his comm badge. "You've done it, Mr O'Brien."

"Acknowledged."

Odo suddenly felt the temperature in the lift go up, or he  
perceived that it did. It startled him when he looked over at  
Kira and found her staring at him as though he were a Jem'Hadar.  
Her face was flushed, and her breathing accelerated. He hoped the  
reason for it wasn't what he thought it was. "Major? Are you all  
right?"

Kira swallowed. "I'm fine." Immediately all business, she  
stepped out of the turbolift. Having no choice, the constable  
followed her.

***

Kira had finished her shift that day, and gone straight to her  
quarters. 'He loves me!' she had thought, over and over. 'He  
loves me.' It had been very hard to believe, but believe it she  
now did. She knew he didn't expect that she could love him in  
return, and yet... Bariel was gone. There was no reason for her  
to push the idea away. 'Think, Nerys. He loves you. Do you love  
him?' 

Kira tried to remember her feelings back on the Founders'  
homeworld. Back then, she had pushed all thought aside in favour  
of making herself 'happy' for Odo. Happy because he was home,  
with his people. But in the back of her mind, there had been this  
nagging emotion, one that had told her she would miss him. But  
there had been someone else then, and she had convinced herself  
it was only what you felt for a good friend. She'd said as much. 

And what *had* gone on when that female shapeshifter had  
tricked Odo into thinking that she, Kira Nerys, was about to die,  
enveloped in some weird crystal formation? Odo had dismissed her  
questions fairly easily, but now she wondered.

'Turn it the other way,' she thought. 'How would you feel if  
he suddenly decided to go home, to find someone of his own kind?  
How would you feel?' She knew. She'd hate it. She'd be jealous.  
She'd miss him more than anyone could possibly know.

"I do love him!" It was the most startling thought she'd ever  
had. All these years she had treated him as nothing more than a  
friend, lying to herself, and to him. Oh, she had loved Bariel,  
no doubt of that. She had loved him very much indeed. But what  
if she'd admitted these feelings long ago? Perhaps she and Bariel  
would have been friends only, perhaps... No. That was silly.  
Bariel would still be dead, and she would still be hurting.

Kira laughed to herself. What a mess! There was only one thing  
to do, of course: clean it up. Confront Odo and see what he had  
to say.

***

Kira had immediately gone to the security office, where Odo had  
been working on some routine reports. "Odo, we have to talk."

"Certainly, Major."

"No, I mean *talk*. About what you said in the turbolift this  
morning."

Odo frowned. "I didn't say anything in the turbolift." 

"Don't give me that! You said you didn't think that a humanoid  
female could think of you in a romantic way, and that you didn't  
think of Lwaxana Troi that way, either."

"Yes, but what has this got to do with - "

She cut him off. "Me. It was in the way you said it, the way  
you looked at me. You love me, don't you?"

Asked in such a blunt way, Odo could do nothing but look down  
mutely.

"Answer me, Odo."

"Major..."

"The truth."

"I... do... love you," he finally said.

"You always have, isn't that right?"

"Yes." He still looked at the floor, refusing to meet her eyes.  
What was she going to do with this information, now that she had  
it? Odo felt sure she didn't love him; he'd said as much to the  
female changeling when he had thought she was Kira. The female  
changeling had told him that Kira would never love him, and he  
supposed she was right. But, that couldn't stop him from loving  
Kira Nerys all the same.

But Kira surprised him. "I don't know how to say this," she  
said, pacing up and down in the small office. "Just come right  
out with it, I guess." She faced him. "Odo, I love you."

"I wish you did - " began Odo, but Kira put up a hand to stop him.

"No. Don't deny it. I denied it for years. Years, Odo. I  
wouldn't admit it to myself, let alone you. I must have been  
afraid, or just stubborn, or maybe even a little prejudiced in  
thinking that we could never quite *fit*."

The constable opened his mouth, but she talked right over him.  
"I behaved towards you as I thought I should, like a friend. I  
wouldn't let myself think of you any other way." She took a deep  
breath. "I was wrong."

Odo tried once again to speak, but Kira rushed on, trying to  
get it all out. "I was wrong, Odo. We do fit. We can fit, if we  
both want to. I know I'd like to try."

"Major, I don't know what to say." This was the last thing he  
had expected. She did love him after all. It was a shock, to say  
the least.

"Say you love me. Say you'd like to try. I don't know, say  
something!"

"I... would like that. To try."

***

Kira had herded him into her quarters then, suddenly afraid that  
if either of them got a chance to be alone, they would decide it  
was a bad idea after all.

"Major... I don't think this is a good idea." Scared.

"Odo, sit down."

He had sat. "Now, look. Relationships can be complicated, or  
simple. My idea of simple is to get everything out in the open.  
Complicated would be trying to work things out telepathically.  
I need to know where we both stand." She paced, sighed. "What  
kind of a relationship is this going to be?"

"I don't follow you," he said.

Steeling herself, Kira continued. "I need to be close to the  
person I love, I need to be near them, to touch them, to..."

"Make love with them," Odo finished, hardly able to believe  
he was having this conversation.

"Well... yes. I know there's a... species barrier here. That's  
why I'm asking now, before one of us does something that will  
hurt the other emotionally."

"I understand."

The next question was even more blunt. "Odo, are you a virgin?"

"As I understand the term... I don't know."

Kira sat now, facing him. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"The way my people do things... it's very unlike the ways in  
which humanoids do things. I have had... contact... with another  
of my kind. I don't know if the same terms could be applied, our  
species are so different..."

"Okay. Well, just tell me your instinctive answer."

"No."

"Fine. We go from there, then."

"Major..."

"Odo, do you think this is really the time for you to be calling me that?"

"Maybe not... Kira... Nerys." He looked very lost, trying out her names.

"Kira... you have to remember I'm a shapeshifter. When I  
assume humanoid form, I'm essentially humanoid. I can do  
everything humanoids can."

"You can't eat," Nerys pointed out.

"I *don't*. When Curzon and I were joined, I found I could.  
Drink, at least."

"Fair enough." She sighed. "So, you're saying... we could  
try."

"Yes."

"What if... what if it doesn't mean anything to you? If you  
don't feel anything?"

Odo said nothing.

"Odo, answer me."

"The way my people do things... you might find it disagreeable."

"Let me be the judge of that." 

***

And so they had tried. Now, as Kira left Sisko's office and went  
to her quarters, she thought about their trying. It had been one  
of the most difficult things she had ever done, not because she  
hadn't wanted to, but because she hadn't had the slightest idea  
how one approached someone who had been solitary all his life.  
Who had never had any kind of physical contact with people, with  
women. Correction. With humanoid women. Solid women. 

Kissing had seemed out of place. What was the point in kissing  
someone who didn't have a real mouth? What, in fact, was the  
point in trying to do any such thing with someone whose natural  
state was gelatinous?

They had stood there, in the middle of her quarters, just  
looking at each other. "Maybe this isn't the best idea," she had  
said.

"Major..." Kira had turned, and he had taken her hand. It had  
been a start.

He had brought her hand against him then, and enfolded her in  
his arms. And for the first time in a very, very long while, Kira  
had felt safe. The last time she had felt this way had been at  
the monastery on Bajor; even when she'd made a mess of Bariel's  
garden, she had felt perfectly at peace and safe. Like now. She  
knew that nothing could hurt her while she was here, nothing. 

For Odo, it was the culmination of a dream, something he had  
always wanted. To hold Kira Nerys in his arms, to feel her skin  
against his. He never wanted to let go.

For her part, Kira looked up at him. "Don't ever let go," she said.

Odo kept one arm around her as he turned his attention to her  
uniform. There was intellectual knowledge of something, and then  
there was the practicality. Humanoid mating rituals usually  
required the removal of clothing, so her clothes had to come off.

And they did, a piece at a time, with her held against him still.  
All done, and she looked at him again. "Why are you still wearing  
your uniform?"

"This is not a real uniform, Major." She cringed when he used  
that word. "This isn't a real uniform, Kira." A little better.  
"It's part of me. To form myself without it I will have to let you go." 

She nodded, shivering slightly as the enveloping warmth left  
her. And then it was done. Kira smothered a smile, wondering  
which humanoid he had copied. Bashir or Sisko, probably. Not that  
she would know from personal experience.

"Is this all right?" Odo asked innocently.

"Perfect," she said, allowing a smile this time. She lay down  
on her bed. "Now come here, Odo."

***

For her, it had been a wonderful experience. But she wasn't sure  
about him, and because he didn't say anything, she didn't ask.  
All she said was, "What now?"

"I think that's enough for one day," he said. "My species is  
very different, perhaps it would be better to wait for a better  
time..."

"Odo, stop putting it off. I want to be a part of whatever it  
is, however you like." She couldn't let him only cater to  
humanoid tastes; he wasn't humanoid and never would be.

A sigh. "Very well, but I warn you, my natural state might  
feel odd to you."

"I don't care," she had said, "but kiss me first."

He had kissed her, then. Tenderly. And then the Odo she knew  
had unformed. All she felt everywhere around her was... liquid.

Around each and every part of her... Fingers. Toes. Hair. Over  
her eyes. Underneath her. Inside her. Her entire body seemed  
enveloped. Part of her, the part that rebels when underwater,  
wanted to scream and fight to get free. But the other part, the  
part that loved him, refused to let it. So she just lay there and  
endured the sensation. Soon it was no longer enduring but  
enjoying. And then... what did humans say? 'The Earth moved'?  
Kira smiled to herself. Maybe the station moved.

And when, slowly, she had felt the enveloping liquid recede,  
she had fallen, quite instantly, asleep.

***

And when she had woken, Sisko had called her on her comm badge.  
She had not had a chance to tell Odo what she felt. She knew it  
had taken a long time, that being so enveloped had indeed made  
her lose track of time. Perhaps time had simply stopped for her -  
or them? - it had certainly seemed that way.

"Computer, what time is it?"

"It is 14:32 hours."

"Computer, locate Constable Odo."

"Constable Odo is in his quarters." The fact that the computer  
could locate him meant he had assumed his normal appearance and  
had 'put on' (actually, brought out) his comm badge. Kira rushed  
off immediately.

She chimed at the door, and it opened immediately. "Odo?"

"Yes, Major." He stood next to the structure which occupied  
most of the lounge area.

"Why didn't you come to me when your shift was over?"

"I thought you might like some time alone, to reflect."

"I've reflected. Now I want to talk."

"You think it was a mistake..."

She faced him straight on. "No, I do *not* think that! Where  
did you get that idea?"

"You didn't say anything this morning."

"This morning I was still quite shocked at how wonderful it  
was, making love with you. I could hardly talk at all." 

He looked away when she said 'making love'. "Major, you surely  
don't mean..."

"I do mean. Is that the way your species makes love?"

"Yes. With two gelatinous beings the intermingling is far more  
complex, but yes. It is to *know*, completely, everything about  
the other being, to immerse yourself in them, to mingle together.  
It can be quite... profound."

"But surely it can't be that way with a... solid?" It was more  
a question that a statement.

"Not exactly, but... I know everything about you. The physical  
you, that is. Every... every inch. It is more than enough, and  
almost as profound."

He lapsed into silence, but Kira picked up the unspoken words.  
"You'd like to do it again."

Odo looked away. "Major, you can't tell me you enjoyed that.  
The humanoid way, I know you did, but..."

"Odo." She clung onto the frame of the structure. "Do you know  
the phrase, 'the Earth moved'?"

"Yes." 

"Well, the station moved, okay?"

Odo saw she meant it, that even in his own way, a way totally  
alien to what she was used to, he had given her pleasure. She had  
certainly given him pleasure - so much in fact that "profound"  
was the only word he could think of to describe it. "I'm glad, Major."

"I'm never going to get you to call me by my first name, am I?"

"I suppose not."

"Well, from you I'll consider 'Major' a term of endearment."

Odo smiled, very slightly. But for him, such a smile indicated  
great happiness.

Kira took him by the hand. "I have one more shift off after  
this. Why don't you take your next shift off, too, and come round  
to my quarters? Or we can stay here. Or, even better, we can  
flaunt this on the Promenade."

"I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet," he said.

Kira grinned. "I know, but someday you will be."

"Major, I love you," Odo said.

"I love you, too, Odo," Kira replied.

_I say love will come to you_  
_Hoping just because I spoke the words that they're true_  
_As if I offered up a crystal ball to look through_  
_Where there's now one, there will be two._

THE END


End file.
